Since we are in the agonizing midst of this horrendous drought here in central Texas, I am reluctant to light up a fire in my woodburning pit lest I burn the neighborhood down due to a stray spark I bought an electric smoker. I will not be without bbq. That said, I have never used one of these before and although no novice at the pit, I humbly ask if any of you have any tips and tricks or cautions I need to be aware of?

I have one of those Masterbuilt 30" electric Smokers. I have used it 4 or 5 times in the past 1.5 years. It works fine, but has limited capacity and requires small chips or shredded wood for the smoke-element. We have tons of Hickory available...but reducing it to useable size is quite a task.

We are in the process of building a traditional Smoke House...... 4'x 4'x 6' tall, wood (Red Oak Siding), I will use my old Brinkman smoker for the firebox/heat source by cutting off the legs to put it down to 'ground level' and using 8 feet of 6" stovepipe with damper to take the heat and smoke into the floor of the smokehouse. We have all the materials, just need a break in the current heat wave to give us motivation to get it done. We will make the Smokehouse look like an Outhouse in "decor", but it should be big enough to do some serious meat preserving when the cooler season comes around. we will try to document the DIY Project and update this report with photos later.

mayor alI have one of those Masterbuilt 30" electric Smokers. I have used it 4 or 5 times in the past 1.5 years. It works fine, but has limited capacity and requires small chips or shredded wood for the smoke-element. We have tons of Hickory available...but reducing it to useable size is quite a task. We are in the process of building a traditional Smoke House...... 4'x 4'x 6' tall, wood (Red Oak Siding), I will use my old Brinkman smoker for the firebox/heat source by cutting off the legs to put it down to 'ground level' and using 8 feet of 6" stovepipe with damper to take the heat and smoke into the floor of the smokehouse. We have all the materials, just need a break in the current heat wave to give us motivation to get it done. We will make the Smokehouse look like an Outhouse in "decor", but it should be big enough to do some serious meat preserving when the cooler season comes around. we will try to document the DIY Project and update this report with photos later.

Sounds like a Fantastic Project. Just don't take drunk and try to use it as an Outhouse!!

I've had my Meco 5030 electric smoker for well over 10 years. It still works great. I like to fill the water bowl with Dr. Pepper and little Figaro (brand) liquid hickory smoke and a little Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce. Use your imagination to get the flavor you want to achieve. I also recommend using no more than 3 chunks of wood. I like to soak my wood chunks for about 12 hours so they smoke rather than burn. My favorite food to smoke are ribs. Baby backs, St Louis style spare ribs and thick beef ribs. I use the rub made and sold by Baker's Ribs in Dallas. I rub my ribs real well, wrap in plastic wrap and keep in the fridge for 12 hours. Then, smoke 3 hours for baby backs, 4 hours for spare ribs and about 5-6 hours for beef ribs. I always get a good smoke ring and delicious flavor. Sometimes I'll use country style ribs too. Just keep an eye on the built in thermometer. The thermometer doesn't show the temp. Just low, med, and high. Everything depends on the weather. The temp outside and, the wind. You want to keep the temp in the middle. This can be maintained by opening and closing the vents. It takes a bit of practice but, not that much. Pretty soon you'll be good enough to be competing at Memphis in May.